Token Black Guy (Craftsman Screw*d Evaluation)

Days before I received the final results, someone on the Craftsman Youtube channel openly ventilated their dislike for the contest. In the mist of their expressions, that person wrote these words, "And, is Motown Maurice the 'token black guy'?" Now, I have no intentions of taking a racial point of view for not winning but the comment did make me ponder. I maintained optimism but a brother can't help but wonder sometimes.

Facebook Evaluation

I also made another observation on their Facebook fan page. Upon the start of the voting sequence, they posted the finalist videos on their page to expose us to Craftsman's audience. Subsequently, its suppose to help us get votes. Among myself and the other 4 finalist, I had a noticeable least amount of Facebook "likes" and comments.

The Facebook comments and "likes" did not influence the final score but why was my video "liked" the least.   Hands down my video was better than at least 3 of the other contestants. Still, my video was least "liked." Again, there is no point in building a racially motivated conclusion; however, this experience fortifies how important it is for a person considered as a minority to work 10 times harder.

In many cases, if the decision makers all resemble a particular racial group and you don't look like that group prepare to work much harder. When you finally succeed you will be 100 times as strong.

This contest has been one of the most spontaneous accelerations I've been apart of. As a top 5 finalist, this is the closest I've ever been. The positive side to this experience is I'm getting closer and closer to actually winning soon. The negative side is... Well... There is no negative side. By the time I publish this post, it will be a week since I received notice of not winning. As each day passed, it become more and more clear to me why I didn't win. There are much better opportunities in stored for me and they're developing as I type.

To learn about those opportunities you will have to continue reading my blog. For now, review parts of the Craftsman process that I left out for the past two weeks.

The Craftsman Screw*D Story

* Everything generally started with the creation of
Motown Maurice's Craftsman Screw'd Audition Video  (Important must see video) 

Week 43

* On Day 293 Saturday, July 9, 2011 I became a top 20 finalist. 

Day 295 Monday, July 11, 2011

One phone call changed my whole day. Casting for Craftsman called and they needed a interview video. I was suppose to go to Fedex drop off paper work they requested but I had to make the video top priority. I had so many problems uploading and converting the file to the right size. My internet connect was slow at the time and it forced me to go to Starbucks and use their internet. Nonetheless, their internet was also slow with uploads. After several file conversions, I finally uploaded the video to Viemo and sent them the link. Below is the video I sent.

When I was done I was shocked to realize how long it was. Please don't ever send any show a video this long. I doubt they even watched the whole this. At the same time they never game a time limit. 


Day 296 Tuesday, July 12, 2011

* I was told several times to be expecting a call the next day but it took a few days for that call to actually come through. 

* My desire to win the contest started to building up today.


Read Post: My Past Does Not Direct My Future

Day 297 Wednesday, July 13, 2011

* Today I received notice that I had become a top 10 finalist. At the same time, I was informed that the next round results will come in on Friday. 

Day 299 Friday, July 15, 2011 

* I become a top 5 finalist. 

Day 300 Saturday, July 16, 2011

* Calls from the production team came in with information for Monday & Tuesday's arrangements. There was a lot of back and forth because for some reason they wasn't aware of their own terms and conditions listed on their website. 

* In preparation of developing a marketing strategy for voting I created, Motown Maurice’s Urgent Message Union. Its a message group on Facebook. I invited mainly my most active and loyal supporters. I'm probably going to change the name of the group in the near future.

Week 44

Day 302 Monday, July 18, 2011

* Today was my big test and interview. There are two parts to this day. The first part is the video part that was released a day later.


Read Post: Motown Maurice is Screw*d - Please Help!  (Must Watch Video)

I have to blog? This must be a omen! 

The second aspect of that day was the blogging portion. We found out that we had to blog about today's experience shortly after we arrived. I've been blogging for almost a year and built a passion for it. This had to be a sign. We were instructed to blog about the experience because the winner would have to blog and tweet throughout the web series. Here is what I wrote: 

Motown Maurice- Craftsman Screw*d Blog

I must admit, when I was first noticed the posting of Craftsman Screw*d I was partly reluctant at first to participate. I had to be out of town during the weekend of the casting call and the video submission was my only option. At the time I wasn’t in the mood of making of video but I overcame that mood after repeatedly reading over the guidelines.  I knew that this was an opportunity I couldn’t miss out on. Slowly but surely I started to fall in love with the concept.

I then came up with an interesting idea for a video submission, shot it, edited it and uploaded it. The excitement thrilled me and I decided not to think about it for a while. Then suddenly one day after another this contest started to evolve right in front of my eyes. First I was a top 20 finalist, then I had to submit a interview video, and following that I was in the top 10. Finally the great news came in last Friday announcing my advancement as a top 5 finalist. The first thing I did was call my mom and tell her the great news.  

Upon becoming a top 5 finalist I had to deal with all the excitement by being patient and wait for the updates. After receiving all the needed information I arrived today for an interview and test.  The interview went well but the test on the other hand was an interesting experience. There were 3 challenges that I had to complete in approximately 10 minutes. First I had to pound some nails into some wood. That wasn’t bad. I think I did well there.

In the next challenge, I had cut open a 4in hole into some plywood. I knew immediately to measure the hole. That was a piece of cake. Keep in mind I wasn’t given any direction on what to use. Behind me was an array of tools and I had to choose the correct ones for the job. There were a few different cutters available but after about a min I settled with the cutter that required power.

To my surprise it wasn’t working. That’s when I thought all this was a trick and maybe I was being Punk’d. I was almost sure that Aston was going to reveal himself anytime now. After I realized Aston wasn’t coming out, I noticed a battery back lying on the table. I put two and two together and there was my power cutter.

I thought I was Mr. Know it all at the time but then the team advised that I had to make a hole first. Since I couldn't make it with the electric cutter I grabbed the hammer and banged one in. My electric cutter made its way easily around the perimeter of my 4in hole.

The last test challenged me to put a small bird house together with the parts available to me. The picture looked simple enough but I honestly was clueless. I don’t know if it was the pressure of clock ticking away or maybe it’s possible that it was a State of the Art bird house that required a degree in Craftsman. Whatever the case was, I couldn’t do it. I was stuck. I started to pull out a few back up tools I brought with me in my bag. I took out some duck tape but that didn’t work. Finally, the clock ran out on me and I slightly tilted my head down with shame.

I really tried my best but I couldn’t do it. I wanted to go home with the win but unfortunately not today.

Final Thoughts

This experience really showed me how unhandy I really am. I knew I was bad but that was embarrassing. My unhandy skills are probably the reason why I’ve had problems with women over the years. Besides my unhandy skills, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I passionately would love to obtain this skill, use it for the betterment of mankind and inspire millions of people to take on the world of Do It Your Self projects.

Twitter:

Calling all Do It Your Self enthusiasts, I am stuck in the middle of a forest and I have to build a tree house to survive. And I can’t do it myself. Please help me!!!

Motown

* As you can see I wrote a lot. It appeared as though I took much longer than I was suppose to. When I was done the spell check wasn't working. My article was then printed out and I made the proper corrections with a pen. Then I was told by one person that they would fix it for me later. They never did fix it because when I requested my blog piece through email, there was still a bunch of errors. I immediately complained and was told that I could fix it and resend. Who knows which version was judged.  

* Just before I left I received a $250.00 per diem. I figured that was just enough to take care of my expenses in the community housing for two weeks and depart for Chicago as the winner of the contest. I made this assumption because I new the following Saturday would be my last day with my roommate.  

* By the time I got home I received a phone call for a 45min long physiological test. 

Day 303 Tuesday, July 19, 2011

* I went in for a full physical at a doctors office. I had a blood, urine test and all. They took care of all the cost and I'm healthy. This alone was worth it because I haven't had a full physical in years. 

Motown Maurice at the Doctors office. 

Day 304 Wednesday, July 20, 2011

* At first I was told that early voting might of started last night but it didn't. Today came and I still wasn't even sure when it officially started. They never appropriately gave out official instructions. I later made my own judgement and started taking the initiative for votes. Hours later I got a call back and saying I could start voting. Terrible. 


Day 305 Thursday, July 21, 2011

* After a day of collecting votes, I found out early in the morning that I was focusing on the wrong area. I thought the Youtube like button was for votes but it wasn't. The banner on the video was for voting but the banner didn't even show up half the time. I sent 3 back to back emails addressing how unfair and unclear the voting process begin. It took 4 days before they emailed me back with a so called apology for the misunderstanding. After a few hours passed, I realized that I wasn't getting a response and I decided not to participate in the voting process anymore. I wrote more about my frustration here.



Read Post: Peace Surpasses All Understanding

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

Read Post: Voting Period is Over!!!

My Worth...

I know I'm worth more then these contests but I do it for the experience and because its an opportunity that could be used to elevate quest. I haven't won one yet but at the least I'm exposed to new people and I'm sure they will never forget me. There's always the possibility of them calling me back for something bigger and better. That's what happened with the Oprah Contest which later lead to a call for Expedition Impossible.

My Biggest Issue 

The truth of the matter is these contests never really have it together as well as they try to make it seem. Everything was good in the beginning but the voting portion really showed me how Screw*d things were. They never gave out any clear instructions on how to vote or exactly when to start. In my opinion that is unacceptable.

As soon as I started having voting problems, I called my Sponsor For Life Pamela Y. Robinson and ventilated its flaws with her. She's been there with me before and she said, "this is ridiculous." 

Too Much Humanitarianism

On Monday, the day we made the last audition video, I was asked several questions. All of them couldn't make the final 2min video which is understandable. However, for some reason I've been thinking about one of my answers that may have been too humanitarian. They asked me why I want to do the show. I told them because "I want to use my new learned skills to make the world a better place." Then I started to share my experience in Haiti and that if I had Craftsman skills I would use it to help build and repair homes instead of just painting. 

Days passed and that answer stuck out in my mind. I think it was a bad answer on reality show standards. I learned since my audition with Wipeout that they don't want you to start a business with the money you win. They literally want you to do something stupid with your winnings like throw a party. That lesson is probably why I felt that answer was probably too humanitarian. Oh well...they asked me a question and I answered they way my heart wanted me to. Don't blame me, blame the genuineness of my heart. 

Further Evaluation 

Since I made a firm decision to win the contest (My Past Does Not Direct My Future), I slightly become impatient. Not over baring impatient but to the point when I was thinking about it from time to time. It think is mainly because I'm a very detailed person and at times they weren't detailed enough. That could be why I was partly impatient for a moment. These contests love to leave everyone hanging. Which is why I need to retire from participating in these contests. 

I also new more about the details of contest then some of the associate staff. I read and became engaged with the terms and conditions listed on their website. The terms and conditions said hotel and transportation will be provided for everyone. I had to request what should of been offered to me. My persistence did get me picked up and dropped off on both days.  

Final Thoughts

I have no clue of the final score and I'm really not concerned. The only thing that really disappoints me is the fact that I can't proceed with a quick trip to Tampa to see my parents and make a few pit stops :-). I wanted to go their before I got shipped for to Chicago for a few days. 

I did wish to finish reading the The Alchemist by the end of the voting period but I haven't been able to do that yet. I'm almost done with the book and I believe it's revealing to me an understand of all the tests I've been enduring. 

Making the decision not to par take in the voting process was strong. I would of wasted a lot of valuable energy if I did. I don't regret it. I'm way to professional for nonsense. Hollywood get it together. Motown Maurice is legit and he won't quit. 

As the quest continues...

The Future of Late Night

Motown Maurice